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    Pianos: Their Construction, Tuning, And Repair - With Numerous Engravings And Diagrams
    Pianos: Their Construction, Tuning, And Repair - With Numerous Engravings And Diagrams
    Pianos: Their Construction, Tuning, And Repair - With Numerous Engravings And Diagrams
    Ebook201 pages1 hour

    Pianos: Their Construction, Tuning, And Repair - With Numerous Engravings And Diagrams

    By Paul N. Hasluck

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    About this ebook

    This book contains a comprehensive digest of information on the construction, tuning, and repair of pianos scattered over of about thirty thousand columns of the journal Work and supplies concise information on the details of the subjects on which it treats.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherRead Books Ltd.
    Release dateMay 31, 2013
    ISBN9781473387720
    Pianos: Their Construction, Tuning, And Repair - With Numerous Engravings And Diagrams
    Author

    Paul N. Hasluck

    Paul Hasluck (1854–1931) was an Australian-born writer and engineer, who moved to the United Kingdom before the 1880s. Hasluck was a leading writer of do-it-yourself guides and wrote technical handbooks. Alongside authoring 40 of his own works, Hasluck also edited many texts.

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      Book preview

      Pianos - Paul N. Hasluck

      Keys

      PIANOS:

      THEIR CONSTRUCTION,

                         TUNING, AND REPAIR.

      CHAPTER I.

      PIANO CONSTRUCTION.

      PIANOS are now found in so many households, and there is such a dearth of published information on their construction, tuning, repair, and renovation, that it is thought that reliable instruction on these matters presented in the pages of a WORK handbook would be welcomed by a great number of persons. This handbook will treat the subject in a practical manner, and will discuss in the order here mentioned the construction and manufacture of a piano; choice, care, maintenance, and cleaning; tuning, repairs of all kinds, the finishing and renovation of piano cases, and the improvement of discoloured keys.

      The construction of a piano will not be attempted by many persons outside the recognised factories; but it is by no means an impossible task for the home-worker, be he amateur or professional, provided that he has mastered the use of woodworking tools, of which he must possess a goodly assortment. He will need a workshop of some kind, a bench, and a pair of trestles. At a late stage in the work special implements become necessary (see pp. 91 to 94, and pp. 104 to 111).

      The piano, whose manufacture is about to be described, has a wooden frame, so that it is wholly within the capacity of the woodworker. However, as the majority of readers may wish to have an iron-frame instrument, information as to the purchase and fitting up of the necessary parts for this is given at the end of the next chapter. Some idea of the instrument to be described may be gained from Fig. 1, which is a vertical cross section of the case. Its design may not compare favourably with that of an expensive factory-made model, but it is well adapted as a piece of work for a person of limited facilities. In Fig. 1, A indicates the end of a back; B, end of case to cheek C; D, truss; E, truss toe; F, end of key bottom; G, lock front; H, key block; I, name board; J, back flat and fall; K, top; L, end of bottom board; M, end of pilaster.

      The glue is a very important item in piano making. Only the best should be used. To prepare it, break it in pieces, and cover it with cold water, leaving it to soak all night; then put a portion in the glue-pot and boil thoroughly, stirring from the bottom occasionally.

      Begin the actual construction of the piano by making the back. Cut nine lengths of 4 in. by 3 in. bracing 3 ft. 6 in. long, also two lengths 4 ft. 3 in. Plane one side of each straight and out of winding, testing often with the straight-edge. Then square the edge or 3 in. side of each, and make the usual mark on them. Take the rough off the other sides, and stand them by to dry, as they dry quicker when planed over.

      Now prepare the wrest plank and bent side by planing over, so that they will lie level and square across. Obtain two sheets of sycamore veneer, and cut the veneer the width of the wrest plank until there is sufficient to cover its entire length; joint it edge to edge on a board by tacking it temporarily, then glue strips of paper over to keep it together. When this is dry, tooth or scratch it with the edge of a saw.

      The strain, or tension, on a piano is very great, and varies with the size and method of stringing. The tension from top to bottom of a wood-frame cottage piano is from seven to eight tons, while a wood-frame grand piano has a tension of about sixteen tons. The back, or foundation, of the piano must be strong enough to bear this great strain. If the back is not strong enough, then the piano will not stand in tune, for the two extremities will be gradually drawing together, the strings slackening accordingly. The tension in an iron-frame piano may be as great as thirty tons.

      Fig. 1.—Vertical Cross Section of Piano Case.

      The parts of the back (see Fig. 2) are named bracings D, linings E, wrest plank A, and bent side B. The back of the piano will be composed of nine bracings or uprights, and will be 4 ft. 2 in. wide by 3 ft. 6 in. high. The bracings are made of spruce, as free from knots and as dry as it can be got. It will take about 50 ft. of stuff, 4 in. by 3 in. The wrest plank A is the upper portion of the back, where are placed the wrest pins, or tuning pins, to which the strings are attached. This is made from beech, 1 1/2in. in thickness, and 8 in. wide, and 4 ft. 3 in. long. The bent side is also made from beech; into this pins are driven to attach the other end of the strings. This beech is cut on the quarter specially for the trade, that is, the tree is cut in four parts, and the boards cut off the faces, so that they are not so liable to split. Fig. 2 is a front view and Fig. 3 a back view of the back; c shows the bottom. A vertical section is shown by Fig. 4. Glue the wrest plank and the side of the veneer that is not papered, and place over it a hot board, rub the work with soap to prevent sticking, and cramp with hand-screws. After leaving’ this an hour or two, take off the hand-screws and board, and plane over the veneer with a smoothing plane set fine, and then scratch the surface of the veneer. Now apply the second sheet of veneer in the same way, but with its grain crossing that of the first.

      Fig. 3.

      Fig. 4.

      Figs. 3 and 4.—Back View and Section of Piano Back.

      The frame of the back is to be 4 ft. 2 in. by 3 ft. 6 in. finished. The two lengths of bracing cut 4 ft. 3 in. are for the top and bottom of the frame, their exact length being 4 ft. 2 in., 1/2 in. being allowed at each end to work with, for cutting square, etc.

      Fig. 5.—Mortise Holes in Bracing.

      The outside bracings are called linings; they are dovetailed into the top and bottom, and the bracings tenoned into the top and bottom. The bracings must be spaced apart about equally, if anything, a little closer together in the centre, as the strain is greatest at this part. By subtracting the thickness of the bottom and top from the height of the piano, the measurement between the tenons will be obtained; for instance, say the bottom and top are 2 1/2 in. thick, that would make 5 in.; take that from 3 ft. 6 in., so getting 3 ft. 1 in. between the tenons. The mortises can be bored out with a 1 in. centrebit, leaving the tenons 1 in. to fit (see Figs. 5 and 6). In putting the back together, before gluing see that it all fits together square; try this by placing a rod diagonally from corner to corner; if the diagonals do not measure the same a good push at one corner may make it right. Attend to this also when gluing together. When ready to glue together, get some assistance. Just place the ends of the tenons in their respective places, so that the whole holds together, then warm both ends well, and brush on glue as quickly as possible to the parts of the tenons that are visible.

      Now knock together with a heavy hammer, and see that the back is square, and lies flat on the floor. When the glue is dry, plane over both sides clean. Make a pencil line 8 in. from the top, and fill up the interstices to this line with blocks 6 in. long; this is to make a good bed on which to glue the wrest plank. When these are dry and levelled, tooth the work well, and warm it and the wrest plank. After it has been fitted insert two nails at each end of the line, and glue and put on hand-screws. Gauge a line 3/4 in. from the bottom of the bent side, on the round edge, and 3/4 in. on the top; put the work in the bench screw, and with a hand saw cut down the line on the edge, and then chop out with the chisel from the line on the top; this will form a rebate for the sound-board to lie in. When the back is facing the workman, with the plank at the top, the treble will be to his right hand. On the treble lining under the wrest plank mark 5 1/2 in. From the bottom corner at the bass end mark 2 ft. Knock two nails in temporarily, and lay the bent side on and mark round with pencil; then fill up the interstices with short pieces of bracing, as was done for the plank. When dry level and tooth, and glue the bent side up to the nails. After this is dry, get out two pieces of spruce 3 in. wide, 3/4 in. thick, and 4 ft. 3 in. long. After planing, glue one at the top and one at the bottom of the back outside. This will complete the making of the back.

      Fig. 6.—Lining with Dovetail End.

      It is a natural step from the back to the sound-board. The back is firm and rigid, but the sound-board is vibrating and sensitive, so that these form two extremes. The sound-board lies immediately behind the strings, and covers the back within the wrest plank and bent side. It is technically named the belly. The parts of a piano may have been named with the parts of the human frame in mind, for the piano has a back, belly, cheeks, legs, feet, and toes. The sound-board has an important function, and without it there would only be the tone of the wire, which would be poor and weak in itself, as can easily be proved by stretching the string over any rigid surface. When a piano string is struck by the hammer, the sound is transmitted from the bridge on which the string rests to the sound-board, which takes up the sound waves, and increases the power of the vibrations; so that when a person is playing the piano, the sound-board is in one continual vibration. If a tuning fork is struck and the end placed on a solid block, very little sound is emitted; but if struck and placed on the panel of a door, its tone is intensified. To show how wood is a conductor of sound, let a tuning fork be struck and held on one end of a plank, no matter what length, and it will be heard at the other end.

      , so that their correct positions will be known.

      Now turn the back over with the wrest plank on the trestles. In a factory the belly or sound-board is jointed on a large board, but in this case the back already made is utilised for the same purpose. The back has two strips of wood across the top and the bottom, and these will be found useful in jointing the sound-board. Shoot one edge of the first board, and after laying a sheet of paper to keep the back clean, place the board up to the slip of wood mentioned above; put a handscrew on each end to keep it in position; shoot the edges of the remaining boards, making as good joints as possible. Having jointed them all, get a piece of wood about a 1/4 in. wider than the intervening space between the bottom edge of the sound-board and the bottom slip, and having ready some glue hot and thin, warm the edges of the wood, and glue edge to edge on the back, rubbing each joint till it is found to bite. Insert the slip of wood; being a quarter of an inch wider than the space the belly will bulge in the centre. Put a board with weights on the top to make the joints go up close.

      While this is drying get out the bars; these are made of 3/4-in. spruce 1/2 in. wide and are placed across the sound-board in a vertical direction, one between each bracing; thus eight of them will be required. Plane over the sides after they have been cut out, straighten one edge, and make the other edge a 1/4 in. round in the centre, graduating to the points; on this edge use the toothing plane, or scratch it with the saw, as this edge has to be glued and it makes it hold better.

      When the sound-board is dry take

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